Zephania Mothopeng

Zephania Lekoame Mothopeng (10 September 1913 – 23 October 1990) was a South African political activist and member of the Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC).

Early life Mothopeng was born near Vrede in Free State, and he had five siblings. He was educated at St. Mary's Anglican School, in Daggakraal, and completed his education at the St. Peters Secondary School at Rosettenville in Johannesburg in 1937, where he matriculated.

Political history Mothopeng began his struggle against apartheid in 1943 as a founding member of the African National Congress Youth League. After his release he was banished to QwaQwa in the Free State but only stayed for six months before returning to his home in Johannesburg.

He was arrested again in August 1976 in connection with the Soweto uprisings after mobilising and organising students in Soweto. He was elected as the president of the PAC in 1986 while in prison. Mothopeng was among those who reported police torture because four other detainees had died in detention.

Mothopeng became ill with cancer of the throat while in prison. He was unconditionally released by President F. W. de Klerk in 1988. He rejected calls to join political talks that black people should have all the power. Under Mothopeng, the PAC refused to join the negotiations on democracy with the African National Congress under President F. W. de Klerk as the Pan-Africanist Congress believed that only guerrilla warfare would end white minority rule. Mothopeng is buried with his wife in Avalon Cemetery.

In a ceremony on 22 October 2016, Mothopeng was posthumously honoured when Pela Street, close to Vilakazi Street in Orlando West, Soweto, was renamed Zephania Mothopeng Street. The renaming is in line with the City of Johannesburg's Policy on the Naming and Renaming of Streets and Other Public Places. Zephania Mothopeng Street links with the Hector Pieterson Precinct.